


Copperhead Snake

by Rikudera



Series: Awakenings verse [5]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Castle Oblivion (Kingdom Hearts), M/M, Memory Alteration, Non-Explicit Sex, Subterfuge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 03:30:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14369967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rikudera/pseuds/Rikudera
Summary: "Just be careful, Sora. If you get too lost, when your sleeping memories awaken, you may no longer be you."Sora has memories he can’t quite reach, but a man with hair red like the setting sun seems to know what they are. If only he would let Sora ask.





	Copperhead Snake

**Author's Note:**

> Can be read as a stand-alone, but references Definitions and Day Off.
> 
> Many thanks as always to my beta, mostlyharmless! You’re wonderful, and I adore you.

"Hey, no hogging the hero."

Sora starts when the man appears through a dark portal. He’s tall and incredibly thin, dark smoke wisping around his black cloak and caressing his fingertips before dissipating into the air as the portal closes behind him. His eyes are a deep emerald green, two dark tattoos like upside-down tears on his cheeks, and his long hair is red like the setting sun.

“You want to test him?” the other man asks, still not bothering to lower his own hood. “Be my guest.” He throws a pack of cards at the redheaded man, then leaves in his own portal.

“Well, now that it's just us,” the redheaded man flashes a grin at Sora, “let me introduce myself.” His hands move constantly as he speaks, eyes trained on Sora. “My name is Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?” He taps at his own temple with a finger. All of this is said extremely quickly.

“Um,” Sora says, feeling tongue-tied in comparison, “sure.” He can hear Donald tapping his foot impatiently behind him. He doesn't even know what happened to the cards.

“And now that introductions are done,” Axel's grin turns sharp, and he summons a red, bladed wheel in each hand - chakrams, “don't go dying on me, okay?” Axel launches himself at Sora, and Sora feels his keyblade settle into his grip and rise to meet it. Donald and Goofy pop into card form, and the fight begins.

“No, you don't,” Axel taunts, dodging a swing from Sora with one of his chakrams, then jumping back and sending a burst of fire magic at him. Sora blocks the flame as best he can, then makes another attack. Axel dances out of the way again, laughing.

Sora’s a little irritated with the way Axel’s clearly toying with him, but there's also something nostalgic about it that he can't quite put his finger on. Maybe it's because it feels a little like when he used to play-fight with Riku, back on the islands. He can't take Axel’s attacks lightly without getting hurt, of course, but Axel’s fighting more like someone who's having fun than someone who’s looking to put his life in danger.

Even if Riku did win most of the fights on the islands, Sora always made him work for it. If that’s how Axel likes to fight, too, then Sora has to stop being annoyed and start showing Axel what he's made of. Whoever wins is going to have to earn his victory.

“That's more like it!” Axel grins. He ups his pace in response, much more liberal with his fire magic than before. Sora doesn't slack off either, complementing his keyblade attacks with some magic of his own, as well as trying out a sleight he learned from his friends in Traverse Town.

“Take that!” Sora says, unleashing a combo. And maybe he's having a little fun fighting Axel, too, figuring out the way he moves and how to use the cards to respond. It's nice not to worry about someone trying to kill him, for once. All Sora has to do is get a couple solid hits in, maybe another sleight, and— “This is it!”

Sora's blow lands, sending Axel jumping back to the foot of the steps where he started. He feels himself grinning triumphantly, and it doesn't feel strange that Axel grins back.

“Congratulations, Sora,” Axel says, relaxing his stance and dismissing his weapons. Sora lets his keyblade dissipate as well, and Donald and Goofy recover from their card forms. His teeth flash in a grin. “You're ready to take on Castle Oblivion for real. Most people can’t remember the most important memories that lie sleeping in their hearts, but you’re different. You can climb this castle and seek out the truth. If you do, you may be able to reunite with somebody important to you.”

“You mean Riku!” Sora replies reflexively. He really hopes that Riku’s okay.

“And the King,” Goofy adds; Donald quacks his agreement. Have Riku and King Mickey escaped from the Realm of Darkness?

“Well,” Axel says, the corner of his mouth quirking up, “you’ll have to think really hard about who it is that’s _most_ important to you.”

...Most? All Sora wants to do is be back home with Riku and Kairi again. Kairi’s safe on the Islands now, so Sora has to find Riku so they can join her.

"You've forgotten about the light within the Darkness,” Axel says, “and forgotten that you forgot."

“...The light within the darkness?” Sora echoes. Where had he heard that before? Who had said it?

"Do you want a hint?" Axel asks, slowly. He holds out his hand, and for a second, something catches in Sora's throat. It looks so _familiar_. Sora thinks he might have had a dream about Riku doing that, once, or was it something...?

Axel's hair is so _red_. He's expectant, but for what, Sora can't tell.

"I want to figure it out for myself," Sora responds, putting his hands on his hips. If it's that important, then it's something he should be able to remember on his own. For another moment, Axel is frozen. Then, it passes and he laughs, draws his hand back, and rests it on his hip.

"Just what I'd expect from the Keyblade Master," Axel grins. “Here you go.” Axel takes the pack of cards out of his pocket and tosses them at Sora. Sora looks down at the card on the top of the stack; he's been to the world depicted here before, too. Would the people there remember him, or would they be like his friends in Traverse Town? "Just be careful.” Sora looks back up. "If you get too lost, when you remember, you may no longer be you." Then, Axel vanishes into a dark portal.

"...Who else would I be other than me?" Sora wonders aloud.

"I bet he was trying to confuse us," Goofy says.

"Yeah," Donald agrees. "Sora was trying to look cool in front of Axel with that ' _I'm gonna figure it out all on my own_ ' stuff, but I can't imagine him being anybody but his ridiculous self."

"Hey!" Sora protests. But he soon joins Donald and Goofy in their contagious laughter, and holds up one of the cards to the door with ease.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On the islands, it had been him, and Riku, and Kairi, and...

"Only one more floor to go," Goofy says.

"What?" Sora blinks.

"Before we run out of the cards Axel gave us," Goofy clarifies.

"Oh." Sora looks at the last world card he has left, gnawing on his lip. He still can't remember that girl's name. It was right on the tip of his tongue...

"Sora, you look tired," Donald says. "Maybe we should take a break."

"Huh?" Sora blinks again. "...Oh, yeah, maybe." What was it that Axel had told him about forgetting, again?

"We'll keep going first thing tomorrow," Goofy adds. Donald nods in agreement.

"Okay," Sora replies.

They don't have any tent supplies like they normally would, but there are blankets in one of the small storeroom-slash-washrooms adjacent to the hall that crop up every so often. Sleeping on the white marble floor isn't going to be very comfortable, but they try to make do. Sora finds it difficult to lie still, even with extra blankets piled under him and another one rolled into a pillow-like shape, so Jiminy ends up sleeping in Donald's hat.

When Sora finally falls asleep, his dreams are fitful and strange.

Axel is there, sharp, terrified, and very close. He keeps calling Sora by some other person's name, but in the dream, it doesn't feel out of place. Axel is angry because he's scared about something; Sora feels scared, too, but he doesn't think it's about the same thing. Axel's face is right in front of Sora - they're both leaning against one of the wide, marble columns in a room of the castle Sora doesn't recognize - with wide, green eyes and wild, red hair.

Was this what Axel meant when he said Sora might no longer be himself? Where would the Sora he is now go? Would he just disappear?

"I don't want to disappear," Sora-not-Sora tells Axel.

"You won't disappear," Axel responds, hushed and urgent.

"I don't want you to, either."

"I won't let you disappear," Axel says. His green eyes look terrified of being alone.

"I'm scared. Stay with me." He kisses Axel, desperate and fierce, fingers fisting in the front of Axel's coat.

"H-hey," Axel protests. "Let's get you back to—"

"Axel, _please_."

They're kissing again, and Axel's hands are like bursts of hollow heat, scorching unremembered words on Sora's body. Underneath Axel's coat is even warmer, and Sora feels like a moth, heartbeat fluttering and dizzy and a little drunk on someone else's name, like he wants to burn up because anything else is too terrifying. Axel keeps kissing him, and touching him, and murmuring things in his ear that Sora can't understand, and Sora tries to reach back as best he can, so Axel won't seem so lonely, for as long as he can, until—

Sora wakes up with a start, his stomach flipping strangely, his head spinning, and his cheeks warm. He gets up as silently as he can and sneaks away to the washroom to deal with the rest of his embarrassment.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Goodbye," Axel tells Vexen curtly.

"No, I don't-!"

Axel snaps his fingers, and flame erupts. Right in front of Sora's eyes, Vexen is burning, until he isn't anything at all. There's nothing left behind after Vexen's gone.

"What the hell is going _on?!_ " Sora demands. Axel smiles like he hasn't just set someone on fire. Donald and Goofy are still cards, and Sora can't tell if there's going to be another fight or not. He doesn't really _want_ to fight Axel, but… he has to get answers, somehow.

Sora gets back into his fighting stance.

“Seriously?” Axel says, raising an eyebrow. “Calm down for a second and–“

Sora lunges at Axel with his keyblade, forcing Axel to bring a chakram up to block. Axel shoots a small burst of flame with the other hand, jumping back, but Sora just follows him forward. When Axel tries to slide out of the way of Sora’s next attack, Sora shoots a blizzaga out to block the escape. Axel wrinkles his nose at it.

If he can just get Axel to _hold still_ , then Sora can figure out what’s just happened. He doesn’t bother with fancy sleights, just keeps the pressure on, pushing forward until there’s no room left for Axel to escape.

"Tell me what's going on," Sora repeats, holding his keyblade up to Axel's neck, pinning him to the stone wall surrounding the mysterious mansion in the woods.

"I'm trying to help you," Axel replies easily, still smiling. With a flick of his wrist, he pushes the blade back with a chakram, spinning Sora around and swapping their positions in the blink of an eye. "You want to save Naminé and Riku, right?"

"Yeah, but..." had Axel been testing him again, like on the first floor? "You didn't have to—to do that to Vexen!"

"Didn't I?" Axel asks. He's positively radiating heat. Sora can feel his face heating up in response. Absently, the keyblade dismisses itself from Sora's hand. “Wasn’t it his fault Riku’s acting the way he is?” Riku was acting so… _dark_. Sora had come all this way to reunite with Riku and Naminé, but Riku didn’t want Sora to rescue him anymore. Sora didn't want to think about how cold and cruel Riku had been because it made him want to cry. “Sora, I’m on _your_ side.”

“Vexen said something about Naminé, and…” Naminé still wasn’t free from Larxene and the rest of the Organization. It had been so long since Sora had seen Naminé. What if Sora didn’t have all the information he needed to save her? And who was that Mar-something guy Vexen had mentioned?

“I’m trying to help you, Sora, but you’ve got to work with me.” Axel moves closer, so the only thing Sora can see is his face, his wild red hair, and the black of his coat, all backlit by the red sunset. He darts his gaze from side to side like he expects to be ambushed himself, then grins down at Sora like the crackle of a match being struck. "You feel like you have to save Naminé, right?"

"Yeah, but—" Sora starts to protest, but halts abruptly when Axel touches a gloved hand to his face.

"I'm gonna tell you right now," Axel interrupts, bringing his face closer, "that if you stop this thing halfway, Naminé's not gonna get saved by anyone." His voice is easy, like he's discussing the weather, but his eyes have a panic in them that Sora can't quite place. Axel's hand is hot, even through his glove, and Sora feels his face heat even more in response.

"But Vexen..."

"Vexen wasn't doing anybody any favors," Axel says. His voice is like tinder, his breath dry and hot on Sora's face, his other hand resting somewhat alarmingly on Sora's waist. “He wasn’t interested in helping Riku, or Naminé, or you. I did you a real big favor just now, and there's a real good chance I'm gonna get in trouble for it, so I need you to trust me for a little bit.”

“What do you mean?” Sora asks. It's difficult to think like this, and he knows that means he should push Axel away, but the problem is he doesn't want to. He can't stop thinking about the way Axel's eyes keep searching over his face, how impossibly crimson Axel’s hair looks in the sunset of this town. He can't stop thinking about how scared Axel looked in that dream last night, a mirror of his panicked eyes now. He can't stop thinking about... about how close they were to each other in that dream.

“If you want to save Naminé,” Axel repeats, “then you just have to trust me for a little bit. Even when it looks like I'm not helping—” Sora opens his mouth to protest, but Axel swiftly moves his hand from Soras cheek to put a finger to Sora's lips, “—it's only because there's a bigger picture you can't see yet.”

Sora pulls Axel’s hand away from his mouth, but can’t bring himself to let go of Axel’s wrist. Axel halts for a split second in surprise, and Sora fights past his blushing to speak.

“You're not telling me anything,” he says. “How can I trust you?” Axel’s mouth is instantly in a grin again, but his eyes are still halted. Sora feels himself leaning into Axel, and he's just as warm as he was in the dream. It's dizzying just to be this close, with Axel staring right at him like that.

“I can't tell you everything just yet, okay?” Axel replies. His hand still on Sora’s waist twitches, and it's maddening. “Just listen _very carefully_  to what I _can_  say.” It has to be some sort of trick, it can’t be anything else, but some part of Sora wants to believe him. It's the same part of Sora that can’t stop thinking about the sunset when he looks at Axel’s hair.

“If you want to save Naminé,” Axel continues, pulling his first hand free to slowly unzip the front of Sora’s jumpsuit, “the best thing for you to do right now is to keep going. Just stay focused on that.” Sora finds that both of his hands are now fisted in the front of Axel’s coat. He drops his head onto Axel’s chest as Axel’s hand snakes down to wrap around to where Sora’s already embarrassingly aroused. “Nobody can save her except you. That's what you need to remember.”

“Axel…”

“Don't say anything right now,” Axel says, eyes sharp, his hand not slowing in the slightest. Sora gnaws on his lip and looks up at him pleadingly. “I know what you're gonna say, but you don't need to worry about what you remember or don't remember. Naminé will help you sort out your memories at the right time.”

That… hadn't been what Sora was going to say. Why were they suddenly talking about his memories, and why was Axel saying something different from his warnings on the first floor?

“Naminé wants to help you, just like me,” Axel frowns, “so you gotta trust her like you gotta trust me.” Axel’s face isn't matching his words, but Sora doesn't know how he’s supposed to concentrate like this. What could Axel be trying to tell Sora if it wasn't what he was saying? “We just want you to make it to the top of this castle okay.”

“Naminé’s… like you?” But Naminé is being held prisoner and whether it was now or when they first met, Axel has lied to him at least once.

“That’s it,” Axel says. His eyes are so lonely, and scared, and Sora _wants_  to help him but doesn't know how. “I'm your friend just like Naminé. And sometimes friends need to trust each other.”

Is Axel some sort of prisoner, too? What’s holding him here? And why is he familiar like this town is familiar?

“A-Axel, I…”

“Shh.” Axel murmurs. “Are we friends or aren't we?” Sora nods rapidly, a little too urgent to be embarrassed anymore. For a moment or two, Axel’s eyes spark with relief, and Sora tugs him close, Axel’s body and his mouth covering Sora’s quiet shudders.

When Sora can open his eyes again, he can still see Axel’s eyes smiling all the way. He smiles back, because it just feels right, and then in another spark of panic, Axel suddenly snatches his hand away, like he's only just realized what he's done.

"...Axel?" Sora asks, hesitantly. Axel readjusts everything back to the way it was in the space of another blink, like he's trying to pretend it never happened. "What...?"

"Couldn't tell you," Axel says quickly, grinning with wide eyes and vanishing into a dark portal.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sora cleans himself up before he has to leave the floor to talk to Donald and Goofy, but he doesn't know how much of it to tell them.

“Axel killed Vexen,” he ends up saying. “He said he did it because he’s my friend, and he wants to help me get to Naminé, but…” he still can't figure out how a person's words can be so far away when you're that close, “...the way he said it was so confusing that I don't know if he was lying or not.”

“Gawrsh,” Goofy says, “I know we gotta rescue Naminé, but I don't think that's the best way to be a friend...”

“It sounds highly suspicious!” Donald frowns. “It's better to make a new friend than it is to have to fight another enemy, but I don't think I trust him.” The thought of having to fight Axel makes Sora’s stomach turn the same way it does when he thinks about fighting Riku. At least he won't have to fight Riku anymore, now that Vexen isn't around.

Naminé, and Riku, and Axel. He can save them no matter what, right?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The top floor of Castle Oblivion is all columns and vases and sconces and planter boxes, filled with blown-glass greenery and flowers. It feels like someone was trying to create life but didn't quite know how it was actually done. Everything is so delicate it breaks at the slightest touch, from the artistic floral arrangements in the vases to the ferns and creeping ivy in the elevated, round planters. Sora thinks of the Riku Replica being made in this castle, fragile like a porcelain doll, and only feels his unease increase.

Sora finds the caretaker of this castle, Marluxia, facing off against Axel and using Naminé as a shield. Axel tries to attack Marluxia anyway, but stops short once he realizes Sora's in the room.

"Hey, Sora," Axel says, after Marluxia retreats through a dark portal to the uppermost room with Naminé. "I told you I'm on your side, didn't I? Don't tell me you're going to let Marluxia's plot succeed. He’s a pretty bad guy." Axel's still got his chakrams out, twirling them lazily around his fingers, deceptively casual.

"After I beat you," Sora shoots back, "he's next." Axel sighs loudly.

"And here I was hoping I wouldn't have to fight you again..." he says. "Well, them's the breaks." He grins like a knife, tenses, then launches himself at Sora.

Sora makes sure he wins fair and square. When Axel makes to run away, Sora pins him down on one of the planter boxes. Glass ferns shatter under Axel as he's forced to sit down, but his coat seems to protect him from the shards. In a long silence, with Sora's keyblade against Axel's throat once more, they just stare at each other.

"Are you gonna finish me off or not?" Axel asks. "Naminé won't be very happy with you if you take too long to rescue her." Sora feels his stomach flip unpleasantly.

"I..." Sora falters, for half a moment, then presses his keyblade closer when Axel tries to shift away. "I just want to know what's going on." Everything is so confusing. "I don't _understand_ anything that’s been happening, I just..." He doesn't want to make Axel disappear like Vexen or Larxene. "Don’t say you’re on my side if you’re not going to _do_ anything." Axel laughs. " _What?_ "

"I think we've got something in common, Sora," Axel says.

“What is it?”

“Can’t tell.” Axel grins, eyes just wide enough for Sora to tell how frightened he is.

“Tell me!” Sora demands. He doesn’t know when his hands dropped the keyblade to grip the front of Axel’s coat. “If you know, then…” Sora looks down; he can see Axel’s chest rise and fall in sharp gulps, and he can feel how warm Axel’s skin is, even through the coat. It's so familiar. Sora thinks that maybe something strange has happened to him in this castle, in a way that doesn’t have anything to do with his memories of Naminé.

Axel’s shaking. Sora looks back up, into his face.

“I don’t get it,” Sora repeats. Axel doesn’t say anything, so Sora kisses him. It feels like something is tugging at him, something the same color as the red of the setting sun. He can feel Axel brace himself against the planter box, shivering as Sora crawls into his lap.

He can’t tell how long it is until Axel breaks away with a gasp.

“ _Axel, please._ ” He looks like Sora’s slapped him in the face, and then he laughs again.

“I’d hate to ruin the surprise,” Axel says, standing up suddenly and forcing Sora to stumble backwards. “See ya.” He disappears into a dark portal. Sora hunches over with his hands on his thighs, taking in shuddering breaths and trying not to cry.

“Now it’s just Marluxia!” Donald says suddenly. Sora jumps; he’s still getting his breathing under control.

“You guys are back,” Sora says, blinking.

“Sora, are you alright?” Goofy asks. “Did Axel... disappear?”

“He decided he doesn’t wanna bother us again,” Sora replies, looking away. “Let’s go save Naminé!” He starts running towards the door at the other end of the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Organization’s leader leaves Hollow Bastion through a dark portal, and King Mickey quickly follows. No one will tell Sora anything about Riku. Sora runs to follow them, but the portal closes in his face.

“You’re just falling into the Organization’s trap,” someone says from behind him. Sora starts at the sound and spins, gaze catching on a man in a black coat leaning against the canyon wall. His green eyes are sharply trained on Sora, and he holds that gaze as he walks forward. After going through a thousand heartless, Sora really should keep his keyblade out, but he doesn’t get the feeling they’re going to fight, so he puts it away.

“Aren’t you part of the Organization too?” Donald accuses. “You’re wearing their coat.” The man laughs, quick and low.

“I don’t know about that...”

“But…” Sora starts. How could you dress as part of a group but not be allies?

“Xemnas is using you,” the man continues, almost insistent. “He’s their leader. He _wants_ you to defeat heartless.” Now that he’s not in the shadow of the canyon wall, Sora can see how red his hair is, bright like a sunset.

“The Organization wants to get rid of the heartless?” Goofy asks.

The redheaded man sighs loudly.

“I guess I really do have to spell it out for you,” he says. His green eyes feel like they’re piercing right into Sora. “Every time you defeat a heartless, it releases a heart, and the Organization collects every single one of those hearts.”

They’d… been helping the Organization this whole time?

“What do they want with the hearts?” Sora asks. He needs to know what he’s been doing, and maybe figure out how much of it he now needs to _undo_.

“That part I ain’t telling.” The man grins, looking away.

“Tell us!” Sora insists. The man darts his gaze back to Sora, grin faltering for a moment and then righting itself once more.

“Who are you, anyway?” Donald demands.

"It's Axel," the man says. He looked so sharp and angry just a minute ago, but now he's smiling. "A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" He grins with one hand pointing to his temple and the other against his hip, elbows jutting out like blades. He's wearing a black coat, so he must be with Organization XIII.

"Ax...el?” Sora feels the name out on his tongue. The sound of it fits in his mouth like something that threatens to make his cheeks burn. Sora's positive he's never seen this man before in his life, but there's something strangely familiar about him that Sora just can't put his finger on. “You..."

"You're the one who gave me that potion when I got bonked on the head," Goofy says. Sora blinks. Goofy had mentioned that when he caught up with everyone, hadn't he? Organization members didn't exactly make a habit of helping them, but...

"I've finally met you," Sora starts again. "You're..." Axel is staring right at him, green eyes expectant for a thing he hasn't named. It must be for recognition of something, Sora thinks, though he's not sure why. Sora tries to remember where he heard about Axel before. His hair is so _red_. "You're the guy who kidnapped Kairi, aren't you?"

Axel freezes for a moment, like he's been physically struck, and then it's gone; he's all angles again, and chattering on about Xemnas and the Organization. That wasn't the thing Axel wanted Sora to say, but Sora's so _frustrated_ that everybody seems to know what's going on except him, so he presses relentlessly for answers. It doesn't matter that Axel apologizes for losing track of Kairi, or how he flees like a hunted animal when Saix arrives. Sora's got people to save, and he can't lose sight of that, no matter what.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from [Summer of Drugs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcdn_o-XxRo) by Soul Asylum


End file.
